


Mask

by nqzirr



Category: OC - Fandom
Genre: Multi, Plague, Zombie Apocalypse, idiots with weapons that they definitely should NOT have, the end of the fucking world - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-13
Updated: 2019-03-29
Packaged: 2019-10-27 17:53:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17771471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nqzirr/pseuds/nqzirr
Summary: Lucas Reid had a normal life once.Now he's on the run from death with a small group of friends and several guns.STORY PLAYLIST:https://open.spotify.com/user/addison-314/playlist/7AhKdARXTZAOIkVMgEu6U8?si=Jr0n-l2pTKmT46spOTAv6w





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> Character Theme Songs  
> Lucas- Kids by MGMT  
> Dakota- Medicate by Gabbie Hanna  
> Kai- Sucker For Pain by Lil Wayne  
> Ophelia- Here Comes The Rain Again by Eurythimics  
> Ares- The Ghost Of You by My Chemical Romance  
> Aella- IDAGF by Duaa Lipa  
> Torin- Too Loud by Icon For Hire  
> Daemian- Different World (feat. CORSAK) by Alan Walker, K-391, Sofia Carson, and CORSAK

My mother was the first person in New York to fall ill. We had heard about a disease spreading in the Western United States, so we assumed she had caught it while visiting her brother in California over summer vacation. I was lucky enough to be staying with my friend, Kai, and her family, but I didn’t feel all that lucky at the time, having always had a dream to visit the state. She started showing signs of the virus a week after she got home. On the surface, all seemed fine until she started developing more of the serious symptoms. Our entire family was placed in isolated rooms to see who she had infected and how it progressed. After another week passed, the only other person who had fallen ill was my older brother, Josiah, who was showing some of the early effects. My father, my younger sister Delilah, and I were cleared to go home and try to get back on a normal routine. I was spending more time with my friends in an attempt to stay busy while Mom and Jo slowly got sicker. Meanwhile, a few people in town came down with whatever they had, but not enough to be seriously worried. I ended up staying with Kai again because being in our apartment made me think of my dying mother and brother. Two weeks later, Kai and I were playing a heated game of Mario Kart on her outdated Wii when Kai’s mom knocked on her bedroom door. “Lucas? Your dad is at the door,” she bit her lip and moved so I could get out of the room. Standing by the front door, my dad looked close to tears.  
“Dad? Wha-,” I started before I was cut off by him.  
“Mom’s gotten worse. A lot worse,” he sniffled.  
“What about Jo?” I asked, extremely concerned. He just shook his head.  
“It’s hard to explain…,” he trailed off.  
“Let’s go, then,” I mumbled and walked out of the apartment. We spent the entire car ride to the hospital in silence.  
“Where’s Delilah?” I asked, fidgeting with my seatbelt.  
“She’s already at the hospital,” Dad kept his eyes on the road, refusing to look over at me. We pulled into the parking lot and I was about to get out of the car, he stopped me.  
“Lucas, it’s bad. Really bad,” he said, placing a hand on my arm. I nodded and got out of the car, slamming the door shut behind me. The elevator ride to the isolation unit was just as silent and awkward as the car ride over. I braced myself as the doors slid open with a soft groan. Dad led me down the hallway to the farthest two rooms. I noticed all the rooms all down the hallway were empty.  
“Jo’s across the hall. Mom’s in there,” he sighed and pointed at the door in front of him. I pushed open the door to find a bunch of doctors gathered around a clear, plastic isolation unit. I pushed through the doctors in front of me and stopped dead in my tracks. Mom looked me in the eyes and vomited black blood onto the floor. She was sweaty, pale, and bloody. I watched in horror as a chunk of flesh fell off her face and landed on the floor with a nauseating splat.  
“What’s happening to her?” I blurted out, blinking away tears. The doctor closest to me shook his head sadly.  
“We wish we knew,” he said.  
“I’m gonna go see Jo,” I mumbled and swiftly walked into the hall. I pushed open Jo’s door and slammed it shut as hard as I could. There were less doctors in here. Delilah was sitting in a chair against the wall, sobbing. Dad was crying as well. I cautiously turned my gaze to the isolation unit that contained my brother. He was thrashing around in the bed, the heart rate monitor beeping furiously while blood rolled out of his eyes and ears. The beeping turned into a flat noise. He was flatlining, but he was still thrashing around. All of a sudden, he stopped moving and sat up straight. Jo picked up his IV stand and hurled it at the screen, cracking it. He started furiously banging on the plastic, a horrible crunching noise coming from the divider and his fist. His eyes were bloodshot and his pupils were extremely dilated. The blood coming from them became black and gelatinous.  
“Can we sedate him?” I heard one doctor say to her colleague. I grabbed Delilah and backed away from the plastic because the crack was getting larger. Dad huddled around us when the divider shattered. I peeked through a gap in my dad’s arm to see Jo lunge at the nearest doctor and start gnawing on his shoulder.  
“Luca, I’m scared,” Delilah whispered. I could feel her shaking.  
“It’s gonna be okay, Dee,” I soothed, using her nickname from when she was a baby. A loud bang startled us and made my ears ring. At the entrance of the room was a security guard, holding a smoking gun. Jo was laying next to the doctor, a small bullet hole in his forehead. The doctor he attacked was dead, his flesh eaten down to the bone. I ran off towards Mom’s room. When I entered, one of the doctors announced,“Time of death, 14:32.” I stood there in shock for a moment, before passing out cold onto the floor.


	2. Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> owo
> 
> pre-infection/early stages

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Character Theme Songs  
> Lucas- Kids by MGMT  
> Dakota- Medicate by Gabbie Hanna  
> Kai- Sucker For Pain by Lil Wayne  
> Ophelia- Here Comes The Rain Again by Eurythimics  
> Ares- The Ghost Of You by My Chemical Romance  
> Aella- IDAGF by Duaa Lipa  
> Torin- Too Loud by Icon For Hire  
> Daemian- Different World (feat. CORSAK) by Alan Walker, K-391, Sofia Carson, and CORSAK
> 
>  
> 
> STORY PLAYLIST:  
> https://open.spotify.com/user/addison-314/playlist/7AhKdARXTZAOIkVMgEu6U8?si=K7P3joTJTYCCW6O8HzjQiA

I woke up in the front seat of my dad’s car with a mild headache. I shifted in my seat and glanced around. “How long was I out?” I asked Dad, rubbing my eyes.  
“Not long. About 20 minutes,” he croaked. He had clearly been crying; his face and under eyes were red and puffy. He turned onto Main St. and sighed heavily. The rest of the drive was silent, the only noises being the occasional sniffles coming from Delilah and traffic noises. Once we arrived home, I dashed up to our apartment and let myself in. I went into my bedroom and began to dig through my closet for a bag. I found my old hiking backpack and began stuffing my favorite clothes and a few books into it. As an afterthought, I stuffed a thick blanket on top of my stuff. I snatched my phone charger off my bedside table and shoved it in the bag. I opened the drawer in the table and grabbed by lighters and all seven packs of cigarettes I had bought off some guy in the street and stuffed them into my bag’s pocket. I grabbed my dad’s old winter coat and shoved it in as well. I stood in the middle of my room, surveying it. An old family photo on my dresser caught my eye. I picked it up and smiled to myself. It was us from two years ago on our vacation to Oregon. I stuffed it in my bag and stormed out of the room.  
“Lucas? Where are you going?” Dad asked, frowning.  
“Out. I’m not coming back,” I snapped and walked out, slamming the door behind me. I dashed up the stairs to the roof exit and pried the hatch open. I set my bag on the ground and walked over to the ledge. I stood on the edge for a while, forcing back tears, cussing out anything that would listen. My phone pinged behind me. I got down and picked it up. My friend, Ares, had texted me.  
Ares: Is that you screaming?  
Lucas/Me: Maybe.  
I opened up the group chat i shared with Ares, Kai, Torin, Daemian, Aella, and Dakota. I fired off a quick message.  
Me: Can I stay with anyone for a while? Going thru some stuff at home rn.  
Dakota: What happened?  
Me: Tell you later  
Dakota: K  
Daemian: I’ll see if you can stay with us for a while  
Me: Thanks  
A minute later, Daemian texted me back saying his parents were fine with me staying with them/ I told him id be over in a little bit. I briefly considered telling Dad where I’d be, but I decided against it. I picked my stuff up and pried the roof hatch open again. I clambered back inside and slammed it shut. I trampled down the stairs to Daemain’s apartment. I knocked on his door. I heard footsteps on the other side of the door, then Daemian opened it. “Hi,” he said, letting me inside. “What’s going on?”  
Daemian led me back to his bedroom so i could drop my bag off.  
“Mom and Jo are dead, and i just cant be around Dad right now,” I mumbled, dropping my bag on the floor.  
“Seriously? Fuck, dude, I’m so sorry,” he said, making an attempt to sound reassuring. I didn't work. I shrugged off his concern.  
“I’m dealing with it,” I replied. Daemian and I ended up going back to the roof for a few hours. Over the next few weeks, the few people who were infected turned into half the town. Doctors were baffled as the isolation floor of the hospital filled up. The media’s attention turned quickly onto our little city. The local hospital began to refuse to admit anyone. One night I had just gotten out of the show and had walked over to the sink to shave when I saw it. There was a rash creeping up my neck. The same rash I had seen on Mom. I pinched my arm to wake myself up, just in case I was dreaming. I rubbed at the rash, desperate to get it off. Nothing works. I quickly got dressed, hooking the collar of my shirt over my nose and mouth. I picked up my bag from Daemian's room.  
“Lucas? What are you doing?” he got up from his spot on the couch and tried to approached me.  
“No! I’ve got it and I don't want to you get it,” I warned, backing towards the door. I fumbled with the door knob for a minute before getting it open and running up the stairs to the roof exit. I curled up in a ball against one of the air ducts and tried not to lose it. I’m gonna die, I thought, rocking back and forth. My vision blurred as my eyes filled with tears. I blinked furiously, trying to keep them from falling. I thought back over the past week, trying to find out when the symptoms started. I had a cold this week, but I thought nothing of it at the time. I glanced over at the rusty metal roof hatch, considering locking it to isolate myself. I got up and turned the lock, resulting in a loud squeal of metal. As i walked back to my spot against the air duct, I stood and stared over the ledge of the roof, considering jumping for the second this month. I sat back down and sighed heavily. It was starting to get dark, and February nights in New york could be brutal. I pulled the coat and blanket I had brought out of my bag and wrapped them around myself. I moved to a spot around the duct where I was sheltered from the wind and pulled out a cigarette and my lighter. I lit it and took a long drag, coughing as i exhaled. It didn't sound good, it was full of phlegm so thick i had to spit it out, unable to choke it back down. I glanced down at the clump on the group, shining my phone flashlight on it. Strangely, the little globe was pinkish. I turned off the flashlight and checked the clock on my phone. It was 8:30PM. I shivered and pulled the blanket closer to my body. I sighed and shut my eyes. It’s gonna be a long night.


	3. Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> owo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Character Theme Songs  
> Lucas- Kids by MGMT  
> Dakota- Medicate by Gabbie Hanna  
> Kai- Sucker For Pain by Lil Wayne  
> Ophelia- Here Comes The Rain Again by Eurythimics  
> Ares- The Ghost Of You by My Chemical Romance  
> Aella- IDAGF by Duaa Lipa  
> Torin- Too Loud by Icon For Hire  
> Daemian- Different World (feat. CORSAK) by Alan Walker, K-391, Sofia Carson, and CORSAK
> 
>  
> 
> STORY PLAYLIST:  
> https://open.spotify.com/user/addison-314/playlist/7AhKdARXTZAOIkVMgEu6U8?si=K7P3joTJTYCCW6O8HzjQiA

The first thing I did that morning was roll over and vomit the contents of my stomach all over the pavement. I wiped my mouth on my sleeve and sat up. I dug my phone out of the tangle that my blanket had become and switched it on. I had several notifications from the group chat. I guess Daemian told them what was going on. I exited out of the messaging app and opened the news app. An article popped up when i refreshed the page, the title of which read ‘NEW YORK MAN SURVIVES DEADLY OUTBREAK’ I skimmed the article, not realizing what this meat at first: that i had a chance to beat this. My vision blurred as a fierce pain pulsated from the center of my head. I dropped my phone and pinched the bridge of my nose, then flinched when my ears started ringing. I felt extremely nauseous and tired. I spent the next two months trapped in my own agonizing world. I was too weak to move or even sit up. I was basically immobilized. Sleep was a rare gift, and it only came when the pain of my flesh literally coming off in chunks was too much to be conscious through. The patch of the rood where i camped out had been permanently stained red from blood. During these months, birds became my only friends. They crowded around me and picked at the chunks of skin strewn around me. It got to the point where I could hear the blood bubbling in my chest when i breathed. Sometime in early may, my breathing returned to normal. I couldn’t hear it anymore either. I fumbled around for my phone, which had been plugged into an outlet near my head. I paused for a moment, hoping this isn't another hallucination. I yanked my phone out from the charger and unlocked it. I had 100+ notifications from my group chat. I opened it and sent a message to them.  
Me: Hey  
After a moment, the chat exploded with messages from my friends.  
Kai: Holy shit, ur alive?  
Dakota: How r u feeling?   
Ares: Hey fuckwad  
Daemian: Where are you? Is it gone?  
Me: I’m on the roof, you can come up if you want. Pretty sure it’s gone  
I set my phone down and unlocked the roof hatch. I still felt pretty weak, but I could feel my strength slowly returning. I scooted myself into a sitting position as I heard several pairs of footsteps from behind the hatch. It opened, and the first thing I saw was Dakota’s worried face. She had brought Kai, Daemian, Torin, and Ares with her. I chuckled, which turned into a cough, when they visibly recoiled at the stench. “Hi,” I croaked, smiling weakly.  
“What the hell, man,” Torin mumbled, covering their nose. I shrugged and scratched at my cheek. When i pulled my hand away, it was bloody. I looked down at my arms and legs and realized why my face was bleeding. I had giant, open wounds all over my body.  
“Well, those will leave a mark,” I said, trying to make light of my situation.  
“Lucas, I know you’re doing your best but my dude, you REEK,” Kai said, crossing her arms.   
“I agree,” Daemian said.  
“How about you go get cleaned up in my apartment while we wash your blanket and other stuff?” Dakota brightly suggested.  
“Yeah, that’d be great. Thanks,” I mumbled, trying to stand up. I noticed Dakota looked at me, extremely concerned.  
“I’m fine. I promise. Quit worrying, Dakota,” I smiled weakly and began limping towards the hatch. I struggled to open it and felt slightly embarrassed when Ares opened it with ease.  
“Oh,” I ended up tripping over myself trying to get down the ladder. I hissed in pain as my shirt clung to my open wounds upon impact.  
“You alright?” Daemian asked, scaling down the ladder to help me up.  
“Yea, just out of practice,” I panted. Dakota was hovering around me as we walked to her apartment, ready to catch me if I lost my balance again. We walked slowly down the hallway, which was weird, because I normally speed walk everywhere. We finally arrived at Dakota’s apartment. She left me in and stayed with me just in case anything happened while the others took my stuff down the the laundromat to wash the blood and sickness out. She tossed me a bundle of clothes.  
“If these are yours, there’s no way I’d wear them,” I said, holding them away from my body to keep them clean.  
“Nah, some guy left ‘em here a couple weeks ago. They should fit you,” she plopped down on the couch and turned on the TV.   
“Oh, thanks,” I walked into the bathroom and looked in the mirror. I barely recognized myself. My hair was matted and grown past my jaw. My face was caked in blood and huge open wounds. My cheekbones and jaw were much more prominent than i remembered them being. I turned on the shower and took my shirt off. I could see each and every one of my ribs. There were several wounds across my chest and torso. I unwrapped the bundle of clothes. Dakota gave me a blue t-shirt and gray sweatpants. She put a towel in the bundle as well. I got into the shower and tried not to make noises when the water touched my wounds. When I got out, I surveyed the rest of my body. My legs looked like twigs. There were a bunch of sores all across my body, some half-healed, others fresh. I got dressed and walked into Dakota’s living room.   
“Feeling better?” she asked.  
“Yeah. Wanna go fuck around in the laundry room with everyone else?” I asked, looking for a pair of shoes. I ended up going barefoot. We spent the next four hours cracking shitty jokes while sitting on the washing machines. My stuff took forever to finish since the cycles were set on ‘Sanitize’ because they were nasty. Kai had just finished telling a Nazi joke when Torin spoke up from two washing machines over.   
“Are you gonna go home tonight, Luc?” they asked, fiddling with their hands.  
“Oh. I hadn’t thought about that.”  
The conversation in the room suddenly died.  
“I guess I’ll stop by…,” I trailed off and glanced at the machine that my clothes were in. The timer had thirty minutes left.  
“I’ll be back,” I said, sounding slightly brittle. I hopped off the washing machine I was sitting on and took the rickety elevator up. It stunk to high heaven on our floor, and as I got closer to my door, the smell got stronger. I cautiously unlocked the front door and pushed it open. I let out a horrified shriek when I saw my dad’s rotting corpse in the middle of the kitchen.


	4. Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Character Theme Songs  
> Lucas- Kids by MGMT  
> Dakota- Medicate by Gabbie Hanna  
> Kai- Sucker For Pain by Lil Wayne  
> Ophelia- Here Comes The Rain Again by Eurythimics  
> Ares- The Ghost Of You by My Chemical Romance  
> Aella- IDAGF by Duaa Lipa  
> Torin- Too Loud by Icon For Hire  
> Daemian- Different World (feat. CORSAK) by Alan Walker, K-391, Sofia Carson, and CORSAK
> 
>  
> 
> STORY PLAYLIST:  
> https://open.spotify.com/user/addison-314/playlist/7AhKdARXTZAOIkVMgEu6U8?si=K7P3joTJTYCCW6O8HzjQiA

I slowly backed away from Dad. The apartment was dead silent when I heard strange noises coming from Delilah’s room. I held my breath and reached down my dad’s shirt for the key to the gun locker in his bedroom. He was the sheriff in our town. I walked slowly down the small hallway.   
“Dee?” I called out stopping outside her door. The noises were definitely coming from in there. Her door creaked when i pushed it open, causing the thing hunched over Delilah’s bed to turn around. It’s face was covered in blood and bits of skin. It was grayish and covered in skin rot. Behind it on the bed was Delilah. Or, what was left of her. The zombie stumbled towards me, blood dripping off it’s face. It lunged towards me, gnashing its teeth. It slammed into me, knocking it onto the floor. It snapped at me, trying to make me its next meal. I tried to fight it off, but I was still too weak. I clawed furiously at it, trying to maintain a good distance between my face and its jaws.  
“Lucas?” I breathed a sigh of relief. Kai had come to check on me.  
“In here!” I yelled, trying to get out from under the zombie. I heard her approaching, then she ran back down the hallway and returned with a kitchen chair. She bashed the zombie over the head, stunning it so I could get out from underneath. She hit it as hard as she could several more times before it stopped fighting back. I whacked it with Delilah’s small (fake) guitar just for good measure. With the immediate threat gone, I rushed over to Delilah’s bed. The zombie had eaten completely through her abdomen, leaving a gaping hole. Her arms and legs had been eaten down to/near the bone. My baby sister’s face was half eaten. I jumped when her remaining eye opened. It was dull and cloudy.  
“Luca?” she whispered, her breathing shaky.  
“Hey, Dee,” I whispered back, stroking her hair.  
“I want Momma,” she started to cry.  
“I know, Dee, I do too,” I murmured. She coughed, causing her stomach wound to start bleeding again.  
“It hurts, Luca. I’m so tired… I just want to sleep,” she rasped, reaching for my hand.  
“No, don’t go to sleep. Please stay awake,” I held her hand as tight as I dare. I looked behind me at Kai.  
“Go get Daemian. He was medical training,” I begged. She nodded and sprinted down the hall to the laundry room. I turned back to Delilah.  
“Do you want me to read you a story?” I picked her favorite book off her bookshelf and began to read. Halfway through the second page, Delilah opened her eye.  
“Luca, Momma and Daddy are here…. Jo too,” she mumbled, “they want me to come with them…”  
“No, don’t go with them. Help is coming,” I said, fully aware I was crying now. Deel let out one last shuddering breath and went totally limp.  
“No, No, no, no, no. Dee? Wake up, please. Fuck. Shit. No, you can’t be dead! Dee… please,” I trailed off, full on sobbing now. I heard several footsteps thundering down the hallway. Kai realized what had just happened and punched the wall closest to her. Daemian came over to me and closed Dee’s remaining eye with his hand. He put his other hand on my shoulder.  
“I’m so sorry, Lucas,” he said quietly. I stared at my sisters body in shock, tears streaming freely down my cheeks. I reached around her neck and unclasped the locket that used to belong to our mom. I opened it to se Josiah, Delilah, and my most recent school photos in the windows. I put the locket on and tucked it under my shirt.  
“Do you want to bury her?” Daemian asked.  
“Yeah. In the roses out front. She always loved playing in them,” I mumbled, reluctantly letting go of her hand. I stood up and turned around to face my concerned friends.  
“I think there’s shovels in the basement,” Kai suggested.  
“We’ll go get them,” Daemian said, steering her towards the door. I stood over my baby sister’s body. She was only eight. That’s not enough time to live. I picked up her limp body and carried her down to the front of the building. The rest of my friends were waiting in the tiny lobby for us. I ignored their concerned looks and walked out the front of the building. The streets were oddly quiet, and there were only a few people outside, including us.  
“Something’s wrong. Very wrong,” Ares said with a frown, surveying the area. I looked closer at the people walking around. They were slow-moving and appeared to be grayish.   
“You can feel it in the air,” someone behind us said. I whipped around, on high alert.  
“Oh. Hi, Aella,” I said, slightly ashamed at my overreaction. Aella lived in the apartment building a block away from ours.  
“Sorry about Delilah,” she sympathized, having lost a brother previously. Kai and Daemian came walking out of the building, carrying shovels. I set Delilah down on the grass and began to dig near the rose bushes. I tuned out everything but the grave. I heard a loud clang of metal behind me. I turned to see the mailman laying on the ground, headless, and Torin holding a bloody shovel. I climbed out of the grave and looked at him. He had gray skin and the same skin rot I had seen on the zombie who killed Dee. I looked at my friends.  
“What the fuck is going on in this town?” I asked, bewildered.  
“The fucking zombie apocalypse,” Dakota jokes. No one laughed because what she said might be true. I lowered Delilah into the shallow grave we had dug and began to bury her. Once I was done, I found a decent-sized rock and put it on top of the grave.  
“We can’t stay here. It’s not safe,” I dusted my hands off on my pants.   
“I agree,” Aella announced from the back of the group. Murmurs of assent came from the rest of our group.  
“Let’s all go pack stuff we’d need. Meet me down here in an hour,” Ares said, then sprinted off towards the building. We all separated and went to our respective homes. I snatched the keys to my mom’s SUV and stuffed them in my pocket. I ran to my dad’s bedroom and unlocked the gun cabinet. I grabbed the biggest duffel bag I could find and began stuffing guns and ammo into it. I ran to the kitchen and began wrapping kitchen knives in towels and stuffing them into my duffel bag. I grabbed another bag from my bedroom and began stuffing canned foods from the pantry into, along with can and bottle openers. I grabbed a couple extra pairs of clothes from my bedroom and went down to the laundry room. I took my stuff out of the dryer and stuffed it haphazardly into my original bag. I threw my photo, cigarettes, lighters, and phone charger in on top of my clothes, then shoved my blanket in. I sent a text to the group telling them to meet me outside the parking garage. I hauled my things out the front door and hauled ass towards the garage.


	5. Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Character Theme Songs  
> Lucas- Kids by MGMT  
> Dakota- Medicate by Gabbie Hanna  
> Kai- Sucker For Pain by Lil Wayne  
> Ophelia- Here Comes The Rain Again by Eurythimics  
> Ares- The Ghost Of You by My Chemical Romance  
> Aella- IDAGF by Duaa Lipa  
> Torin- Too Loud by Icon For Hire  
> Daemian- Different World (feat. CORSAK) by Alan Walker, K-391, Sofia Carson, and CORSAK
> 
>  
> 
> STORY PLAYLIST:  
> https://open.spotify.com/user/addison-314/playlist/7AhKdARXTZAOIkVMgEu6U8?si=K7P3joTJTYCCW6O8HzjQiA

In the next five minutes, all of us were outside the garage. I led them to my mom’s car, an old SUV. “Does anyone know how to drive?” I asked. I sure as hell didn’t.   
“I do. Toss me the keys,” Ares said. I tossed him the keys and climbed into the back. I set my bags down in the trunk and began searching for jumper cables and the spare tire.  
“If we can find some stalled out cars, we can steal the batteries and maybe the tires,” Torin declared, digging through one of their bags. Ares and Kai, who had called dibs on shotgun earlier, got into the front seat.  
“Do you even know how to do that?” Dakota asked, climbing into the car.  
“Duh. I’m good with mechanics. Have you ever seen some of the stuff I’ve made?” they chuckled. I went around the backseat, putting the seats down so we could move (somewhat) freely about the back.  
“What are we gonna do when we run out of gas?” Daemian fretted from his spot against the car door.   
“We can raid the basement for gas cans, then hit up a gas station,” I suggested.  
“Let’s do that then,” Ares said, starting the car. He drove us to the main entrance of our apartment building. We all hopped out of the car and went down into the basement to dig through the storage room.  
“Grab anything that might be useful!” Aella called, entering the nearest storage room.  
“Also, if you see a first-aid kit, GRAB IT!” Daemian announced. I began digging through the piles of discarded things that were either left in abandoned apartments or donated to the building administration. I found three gas tanks in that room, and a first-aid kit that looked like it was from the 90’s. I texted the group about my findings and moved onto the next section. After a few more minutes of digging, I found what appeared to be a dagger in a leather sheath. I pulled it out to see a 7-inch, gleaming silver dagger. It looked razor-sharp and had barely a scratch on it. I grinned and put it into my pocket. I kept looking, and I found a blade sharpener, and lighter fluid, then added it to my pile. I noticed a door at the back of the room I was in. I picked my way over the piles of junk on the floor and opened the door. The room reeked of death. I flicked on the lights and gagged. A dead homeless man was laying on a nest of blankets in the middle of the room. I backed out of the room and shut the door, leaving the old man to rest in peace. After another couple hours, everyone but Kai emerged from their storage rooms, loaded down with their findings.   
“Where’s K-,” Dakota began, but was cut off by Kai bursting out of the next room, holding an axe over her head and some first-aid kits. She dropped the ax on the group and stared at it for a minute.  
“Found an ax,” she said, deadpan. We each took turns displaying our findings. Everyone had at least two gas tanks in their rooms, and various weapons and tools. Dakota was proudly displaying a jagged-edged dagger while Torin was lugging around a huge toolbox, a bat, a long knife, and a coil of wires. Aella was adjusting a metal belt around her waist, which I assumed doubled as a whip or something. Daemian was holding a metal baseball bat over his shoulder, while Ares had found a wooden bat with metal spikes driven into it. We took several trips to the car to load our stuff into it. We clambered into the back of the car, Ares and Kai in the front again. He started the car and adjusted the rearview mirror.  
“Where now?” he asked, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel.  
“Gas station, then NYC. We can try to find help there,” I said, handing Kai the plugin for a powerstrip so she could plug it in. Ares drove us to the nearest gas station, which was completely deserted. Torin went to raid cars of their batteries, while the rest of us began to fill the tanks with gasoline. Once I finished with my tanks, I offered to help Torin with their car batteries, but they told me to fuck off. I put the filled tanks in the trunk of the SUV and watched Torin attempt to charge the stolen batteries with the jumper cables and an outlet near the gas pumps. I wandered inside the gas station and walked the isles, looking for anything useful. I went back to the front to grab a few baskets to put my stuff in. I jumped over the front counter and grabbed a bunch of cigarette packs from the display case. I walked over to the coolers and grabbed almost all the water bottles in the store. I dropped the first load of waters off in the car and went back inside the store to grab the rest. I began stuffing various snack foods into my baskets. I wandered around for a bit, looking for some form of coffee. I grabbed all the 5-Hour Energies I could find and went back to the readily-available food section. I considered stealing one of the coffee pots, but realized it’d be too much of a hassle. I took a couple bags of coffee grounds anyways. Knowing my friends, they’d figure out some way to get their caffeine fix. I put a few pairs of scissors in the basket, just in case, and moved onto the medicine isle. I grabbed all the pill bottles, even things that might not be useful now. I grabbed all the antibiotic cream/spray I could carry and almost every single box of bandaids in the store. I grabbed some rolls of ACE bandages as well. I decided that would be enough supplies until we find another store/gas station. As a last thought, I stole all the tape i could carry and two phone chargers per person, and some more lighter fluid. We were basically going to be driving a bomb that could go off at any moment. I put the stuff in the car, soon realizing I was the last one back.   
“Did you get the batteries charged?” I asked Torin, closing the door.   
“Yup,” they said, much happier now that things were working properly.  
“Good.”  
Ares started and car. “Next stop, New York City,” he declared, stepping on the gas. He put on a pair of sunglasses that no one knew he had. I think they were my mom’s at one point.


	6. Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Character Theme Songs  
> Lucas- Kids by MGMT  
> Dakota- Medicate by Gabbie Hanna  
> Kai- Sucker For Pain by Lil Wayne  
> Ophelia- Here Comes The Rain Again by Eurythimics  
> Ares- The Ghost Of You by My Chemical Romance  
> Aella- IDAGF by Duaa Lipa  
> Torin- Too Loud by Icon For Hire  
> Daemian- Different World (feat. CORSAK) by Alan Walker, K-391, Sofia Carson, and CORSAK
> 
>  
> 
> STORY PLAYLIST:  
> https://open.spotify.com/user/addison-314/playlist/7AhKdARXTZAOIkVMgEu6U8?si=K7P3joTJTYCCW6O8HzjQiA

If the roads weren’t totally deserted, Ares would have gotten at least five speeding tickets by now. He finally slowed down once we were nearing New York city limits.”Is it just me, or is it way to quiet here?” Dakota looked out the window, her breath fogging it.   
“Yeah, definitely. Should we check it out?” Kai asked, watching the city go by.  
“Obviously, but we should be armed,” I said, digging through the back for the gun bag. While I handed out guns and ammo to the others, Ares looked for a place to park the car. He found a spot outside an alley and we all got out.   
“Are we gonna stay together?” Dakota asked while she loaded her handgun. I didn’t know she knew how to do that.  
“Yeah,” I said, attaching my new dagger to my belt. Kai pushed her way to the front of the group, being headstrong as usual. We walked carefully for a while, weapons drawn. As Kai led us down another alley, she stopped suddenly and help up a hand, signaling us to shut the hell up. I heard a noise down the next alley- rustling. We all tensed when the noise suddenly stopped. A rat came around the corner, followed by a ratty-looking homeless girl. Kai swung her ax at the girl, missing her by an inch. The girl flinched and shrank away. I pointed my gun at her.  
“Don’t move. Are you infected?” I asked, curling my finger around the trigger, ready to shoot.  
“No, are you?” she picked up her rat and gestured towards my wounds.  
“What’s your name?” Dakota asked, putting her knife away.   
“Ophelia,” the girl said, scratching the rat under its chin. I guess we thought she wasn’t a threat. All of us except Kai lowered their weapons, since she’s always had trust issues. We took a few minutes to introduce ourselves. Turns out the rat was Ophelia’s pet, whom she had named Goliath. We decided we could trust her and invited her to travel with us. She accepted the offer and led us to the abandoned building she was living in to collect her few belongings.  
“Is there anyone left alive?” I asked her, glancing out the doorway.   
“I’m not sure, but I think it’s just me,” Ophelia said, stuffing various knives into a bag.   
“What happened?” Torin asked, watching a greasy rat skitter by their feet.  
“People started getting sick. Same as you,” she said, putting the bag over her shoulder.  
“Should we go, then?” Kai asked, impatient as always.  
“Yeah, unless Ophelia needs to get anything else,” I said, looking around at the others for confirmation.  
“Nope. I’ve got everything,” Ophelia walked towards the entrance to leave. Ares, who was standing guard outside, peered inside.  
“Uh, guys? We should really get going,” he said, looking extremely worried.  
“What’s going on?” Daemian asked.  
“No time. We gotta get back to the car,” Ares looked out the door again, frowning. We went outside and saw a hoarde of zombies approaching us, and fast. In the moments it took us to process the approaching threat, they had gotten way too close for comfort. We drew out weapons and began running towards the alley the car was parked in. One of the zombies grabbed my shoulder tightly, so I had to pause and stick my knife into its skull. I shot it too, just for good measure. I yanked my knife free and sprinted to catch up with the rest of the group. They were already in the car, which they had started already. They had left a door open for me, so I jumped and rolled into the car, jerking the door shut behind me. The sickening noise of bodies hitting the car followed me. They pounded on the door, growling with hunger.  
“Everyone alright?” Dakota asked from the passenger’s seat.  
“Yeah, just a little grimy.” I glanced at a spatter of zombie brains on the back of my shirt.  
“Uh, guys? We have another problem,” Ares said. There were zombies climbing the front windshield.  
“Is the glass gonna break?” Aella fretted, scooting towards the back.  
“I don’t think it will. Ares, now is a good time to get us the fuck out of here!” Torin declared, bracing themself against the wall.  
“Hold onto your shit!” Ares shouted, slamming the gas pedal, sending us speeding in the other direction.   
“Don’t crash the car, you damn moron!” Kai shouted, holding onto Dakota’s seat so hard her knuckles turned white.   
“Don’t worrying. I know what I’m doing,” Ares smirked, taking an extremely tight turn. Once we were out of New York City, he finally eased up on the gas.   
“Where now?” Ares asked, fiddling with the radio.  
“I don’t know. Should we go out of state? New York seems to be totally overrun,” Daemain suggested.  
“That sounds like a good idea,” Torin called, rummaging around the back. They emerged with a bat, a long knife, wires, and their toolbox  
“Yeah, but which- Torin, what the fuck are you doing?” Kai raised an eyebrow at her friend.  
“Making myself a weapon,” they said, popping open the toolbox.   
“Oh. I forgot you have engineering training,” Aella mused, moving closer to watch them work.  
“Should we head to the Midwest? Nothing ever happens there, so it’s probably safe,” I suggested, watching the empty roads speed past. I glanced over at Ophelia, who was sitting with her back against our stuff silently.   
“What do you think, Ophelia?” I asked her, trying to make her feel like she’s a part of the group.   
“Huh? Oh, uh… sure. The Midwest. Yeah,” she mumbled, snapping back to reality.  
“Midwest it is then. Anyone got an AUX cord?” Dakota announced, turning around in her seat. I handed one over and Ares snatched it from her.   
“Driver gets to pick.” he pulled the car over to set up the music. Soon, classic rock was blaring over the car’s speakers. He shuffled the music and ‘I Want To Break Free’ by Queen began playing. Ares put his sunglasses back on and started speeding down the freeway.   
“By the way,” he glanced in the rearview mirror, “do any of you know how to get out of New York?”  
“Are you kidding me, Ares?” I groaned over the music.  
“What? It’s a legitimate question!” he stuck his tongue out at me in the rearview mirror. Luckily, Aella knew how since she had grandparents in Ohio. I yawned, suddenly realizing how tired I actually was. I settled down against a wall and closed my eyes, falling asleep almost instantly.


	7. Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Character Theme Songs  
> Lucas- Kids by MGMT  
> Dakota- Medicate by Gabbie Hanna  
> Kai- Sucker For Pain by Lil Wayne  
> Ophelia- Here Comes The Rain Again by Eurythimics  
> Ares- The Ghost Of You by My Chemical Romance  
> Aella- IDAGF by Duaa Lipa  
> Torin- Too Loud by Icon For Hire  
> Daemian- Different World (feat. CORSAK) by Alan Walker, K-391, Sofia Carson, and CORSAK
> 
>  
> 
> STORY PLAYLIST:  
> https://open.spotify.com/user/addison-314/playlist/7AhKdARXTZAOIkVMgEu6U8?si=K7P3joTJTYCCW6O8HzjQiA

A sudden bump in the road jolted me awake. I rubbed my eyes and yawned. “How long was I asleep?” I muttered, sitting up properly. Outside the window was a thick woods I didn’t recognize. “Also, where are we?” I asked  
“About eight hours, and we’re in Ohio,” Dakota said, playing a game on her phone. Torin has gotten a car battery from the back of the car and was attempting to get the power source of the battery out. I watched them work for a bit, drumming my fingers on my knee. I noticed Kai had one of my lighters and a pen. She sparked the lighter, held the pen over the flames, then began drawing on her wrist.  
“What are you doing?” I asked her, confused as hell.  
“Giving myself a tattoo,” she mumbled, focusing on the design.   
“Interesting,” I said, gazing around the crowded SUV. The car braked suddenly, causing Kai to mess up her tattoo.  
“What’s going on?” I moved towards the front.  
“Body in the road,” Ares said, carefully steering the car around it.  
“Zombie or human?” Daemian asked, looking up from the medical book he was reading.  
“Can’t tell,” Dakota said, looking sick. We drove on in silence for around half an hour, fearing what lied ahead.   
“Holy fucking shi- Are they all dead?!” Dakota cried out, a horrified look on her face. Ares stopped the car, opening his door, and vomited. I looked out the windshield and realized why the two were reacting so badly. All along the sides of the road were perfect rows of bodies.  
“What the hell…” I breathed, absolutely horrified at the gory scene around us. Everyone else had similar reactions.  
“Should we get out or get the fuck off this road?” Aella wondered aloud.  
“Let’s keep going. Can someone else drive? I can’t right now,” Ares said, looking pale.  
“I can,” Ophelia spoke up from the back. The two switched places and we started driving again. I grabbed the weapons back, fearing an ambush of some sort. Torin clutched their toolbox close to their body, along with their newly made weapon. Ophelia drove as quickly as she dared, also worrying about an attack. I stayed near the windows, scanning the nearby area for anymore morbid remains. We passes into a fenced-in section of the road, but thankfully there was nothing on the fence. A few minutes later we saw the first head. Then another. Then at least 20 severed heads were stuck onto the fence pikes on each side.  
“Oh, my God,” Dakota whispered, closing her eyes to avoid looking at the gory scene. Ophelia slammed the gas pedal, sending us hurtling down the road at high speed. There was a pile of bodies in the road, causing her to swerve off the road. The car crashed nose first into a large tree, knocking us all onto the floor. I hit my head pretty hard against one of the doors, opening a large gash on my forehead. Ophelia had gone through the windshield, her rat next to her. I got up and watched a shadowy figure in the woods throw something underneath the car. I realized what it was when the object starting beeping loudly.  
“BOMB!” I shrieked, tring to open the nearest door. It was jammed shut. ‘We’re gonna die’ I thought, desperately clawing at the door handle. The device underneath the car beeped loudly, then detonated. When the smoke cleared, I noticed the gas tanks were dangerously close to the flames created by the blast. Everyone in the car had been knocked unconscious, either by the blast or the crash, except Kai and I. Luckily, one of the doors had fallen off in the blast, so Kai and I dragged our friends out of the burning car, two at a time. We got them far enough away to avoid being caught in the second blast. I turned around to see my mom’s old SUV become a gigantic fireball. Several loud pops followed, presumably the ammo in the gun bag going off. Seconds later, the entire car exploded, sending metal bits of shrapnel raining down on us. My skin exploded with pain as the scalding metal drove deep into my arms. I noticed the ringing in my ears when I felt something wet on the side of my face. I touched it, and my hand came away bloody. I drifted in and out of consciousness due to the pain. In my few conscious moments, I saw my friends tied up. I heard their muffled screams and watched, helpless, as men took them away. I tried to fight back as I was tied up and taken away as well. I didn’t regain consciousness until several hours later, when I woke up in a blank room. The walls were painted white and were completely bare. I sat up and inspected the rest of the room. My left hand was handcuffed to a hospital bed, which was also white. I noticed someone had cleaned and bandaged my wounds. My arms weren’t coated in grime either. I suspect someone had bathed me while I was out. There was a plain metal door directly across from my bed with a porthole in the door. I looked into the other room to see Daemian struggling against his restraints in an, as far as I could tell, identical room. He noticed me looking and mouthed something to me.  
“What?” I said, my heart racing.  
He repeated what he had said: “Have you seen the others?”   
I shook my head. “Just you,” I mouthed back. I did another sweep of the small room, this time noticing a blinking camera in the upper hand corner.   
“They’re watching us,” I mouthed, nodding at the camera. He located his and nodded. I turned my attention to my own bonds. The bar it was attached to was metal, so breaking it wasn’t an option. I used my free hand to rip out the IV’s in my arm. I winced and reached under my shirt, yanking the heart rate detector off me, causing the monitor to beep loudly. I thrashed around, trying to get free. Several people in white lab coats came rushing in. They held me down and secured handcuffs around my other arm. I kicked furiously, successfully kicking one of the men in the face, causing his nose to break.   
“Sedate him!” the man shouted into the hall, pinching the bridge of his now-bleeding nose. In a few moments, a woman in a lab coat entered the room with a syringe on a tray. The syringe was filled with a dirty-yellow liquid. She stuck it into my arm and pushed the plunger down, knocking me out cold within seconds.


End file.
